Photography Hobby

Photography has been a passion and hobby of mine since I was a child with that box camera from Agfa! It was always a dream of mine that I would one day convert this hobby of photography into a paying career.

I've competed in a couple of photography contests and actually taken first place! I am one of those who would love to be a photojournalist. I love nature photography probably the best. Let me tell you more about my hobby, photography!

Agfa Click-1 (1958-70)

If there is Clack there have to be Click also. Click could be considered as an evolution model of Clack (You can easily prove it by pronouncing "clack" and "click" definitely the sound goes upwards.) A new feature is an internal yellow filter, instead the close up lens in Agfa Clack. Two aperture settings, one for sunny and the other for a cloudy weather. Body material is plastic and the shutter noise is civilized.

Film 120 roll, picture size 6x6cm

Lens: Meniscus lens 72.5mm f/8.8 filter slip-on

Aperture: f/8.8 and f/11; setting: lever and cloudy and sunny setting icons on the lens-shutter barrel

Internal yellow filter: set to yellow dot

Focusing: fixed focus

Shutter: single speed rotary shutter, speed of 1/30

Synchronised for Agfa Clibo flash unit, attach buttons on the right of the top plate

Cocking lever and shutter release: by the same lever, on the lens-shutter barrel

Winding knob: on the top plate

Viewfinder: simple Galilei

Back cover: removable, w/ red window, opens by a latch on the left of the camera

The 120 film format is a roll film which is nominally 60 mm wide (in fact, about 61 mm, or 2.4 inches). The film is held in an open spool originally made of wood with metal flanges, later with all-metal, and finally with all-plastic. The length of the film is typically 30 inches (760 mm) up to 32–33 inches (810–840 mm), attached to a piece of backing paper longer and slightly wider than the film. The backing paper protects the film while it is wound on the spool, with enough extra length to allow loading and unloading the roll in daylight without exposing any of the films. Frame number markings for three standard image formats (6×4.5, 6×6, and 6×9; see below) are printed on the backing paper.

The 220 film format was introduced in 1965 and is the same width as 120 films, but with about double the length of the film and thus twice the number of possible exposures per roll. Unlike 120 films, however, there is no backing paper behind the film itself, just a leader and a trailer. This results in a longer film on the same spool, but there are no printed frame numbers. Moreover, it cannot be used in unmodified old cameras that have a red window as frame indicator. Also, since the film alone is thinner than a film with a backing paper, a special pressure plate may be required to achieve optimal focus if the film is registered against its backside. Some cameras capable of using both 120 and 220 films will have a two position adjustment of the pressure plate (e.g. the Pentax 6x7, Mamiya C220, Mamiya C330) while others will require different film backs e.g. the Pentax 645 or Kowa Six)

The specifications for 120 and 220 film are defined in the ISO 732 standard. Earlier editions of ISO 732 also provided international standards for the 127 and 620 file formats.

My first slide projector, the P11 from Rollei. It included two slide trays: the left-hand tray was for 35 mm (5 cm×5 cm) slides, the right-hand tray was for medium format (7 cm×7 cm) slides.

The Kiev 6C

Today I use the classic Kiev 6C is a sturdy Soviet heavyweight (1.5kg) that packs a mean punch and gives very impressive results day in day out!

The Kiev 6C (or “КИЕВ” – I love Cyrillic text!) is a camera made by Kiev Arsenal in the former Soviet Union, present-day Ukraine. It is a copy of the DDR’s Pentacon Six featuring the same P6 lens mount. The lens on my model is a Vega-125 90mm f/2.8!

It is slightly unusual looking, with a shape unlike most of its box-y MF cousins, and if you squint a little you could convince yourself it is part of the Zenit SLR range (albeit one which has been hitting the gym and tossing back protein shakes). The shutter release button is rather bizarrely positioned on the left-hand side of camera’s front, which can be slightly cumbersome but you eventually find you’re able to twist your hands into an arrangement where you can hold, focus and shoot with ease.

There are waist level finders as well as metered and un-metered prisms available, however, I have the metered prism which uses a now obsolete 4.5V battery – but I use 3 little button batteries (like you’d find in your LC-A) wedged into place by aluminum foil. The metered prism uses the GOST standard (ГОСТ, roughly the same as ISO) for film sensitivity, and ranges from 8 to 1000.

There are plenty of shutter speeds available (1/1000s, 1/500s, 1/250s, 1/125s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/15s, 1/8s, 1/4s, 1/2s, and Bulb) so together with the metered prism there is no excuse for not getting the perfect exposure – though I often manage to do just that!

If you get the chance I highly recommend you check out one of the Kiev range, there’s also an excellent review of the 6C’s big brother – the Kiev 88 – elsewhere on this site you’d do well to take a peek at.

In 1963 my dad gave me his photo-equipment and I felt like a real photographer!

Next: I’m talking about things like loading film in a camera, developing black and white film, loading film reels, mixing chemicals, and other topics of that nature. So as I take that step back and try to identify the needs of the beginner film photographers, the one burning question I have is: Why don’t you develop your own film? For those that do, you know it’s not all that bad. Heck, some of us wouldn’t have it any other way!

As I think back to my "pre-film” days, my biggest apprehension about shooting film was dealing with the unknown aspects such as developing the stuff. Of course, once I actually did it, I realized that my fears had no substance.

Manufactured by Ihagee Kamerawerk Steenbergen & Co, Dresden, East Germany
Model: c.1969, (produced between 1969-70),
All Dresden Exactas produced between 1936-70
35 mm film SLR camera
Engraving on the top plate: aus DRESDEN

Lens: Jena B 58mm f/2, (B means Biotar), Semi-automatic aperture,

(the lens had an external plunger cocking lever, and when pressed, it would close the aperture to the set value, then you must press the shutter release on the lens, no internal aperture coupling)

Exakta bayonet mount, filter thread 49mm,

Focus range : 0.50-15m +infAperture: f/2 - f/16, settings and dial:Shutter: horizontal focal plane double cloth type, Speeds: 1/30-1/500, +B, no long speeds, setting dial: push-out and turn knob, on the top plate, left sideShutter release: a knob, on front of the body, left side of the lens,
w/ a safety locking cap, and cable release socket, it can be pressed with the plunger on this special lens, w/cable release socket alsoView finder: eye level SLR penta prism finder P.3, interchangeable with waist level finder,Finder release: via a knob beneath the Exacta logo
w/ a triangular red indicator appears in the top-right of the viewfinder when the shutter required windingMirror: instant returnCocking lever: also winds the film, short-stroke, right to left film transport, left upper side of the top plateFrame counter: coupled with winding lever, decreasing type, resets manualyRe-wind: via a Folding crank handle on the bottom plate,Re-wind release: a push knob, on the top plate, just in front of the cocking leverFlash PC socket: two, on front of the camera, F and X, sync.1/40,Setting: a flash symbol on the speeds dialMemory dial : for ASA: on the top plate right side,For film type: on the camera support knob, bottom plate, left sideTake up spool: Special type, movableBack cover: Hinged, non-detachable, opens via a latch on the left side of the cameraTripod socket: 1/4''

The Exakta is an fully-manual cameras will require you set both aperture and shutter speed yourself. Set either my aperture, shutter speed, or both, depending on the requirements for the scene, until the needle sits more or less at the half-way mark. When i shooting negative film (rather than slide film), it doesn't hurt a bit for the needle to go slightly above the half-way mark; negative film has a huge tolerance for over-exposure. I use an external light meter.

Gossen is a quality brand in the field of light meters. A light meter is a device that measures and displays the amount of light in a particular space or area. Light meters are usually used in photography, cinematography and scenic design. Using a light meter helps a photographer choose a shutter speed, determine the proper exposure and overall the optimal level of light when taking pictures. The calibration of a light meter establishes a connection between the particular camera settings and scene or subject.

The advanced photometers then could be used either to measure the light from the potential picture as a whole, to measure from elements of the picture to ascertain that the most important parts of the picture are optimally exposed, or to measure the incident light to the scene with an integrating adapter.

I thought i wanted to make a movie. If you want to make money working in 'the industry' then yes, I highly recommend film school. Not necessarily for what you learn, but for the 'networking,' the relationships and connections you forge there that you can't as an outsider. The bottom line in film is that you have to have films to show off. And the way to have films is to make them yourself. So do it. Right now. I'm not kidding.

But remember, making a movie is really about telling a story -- your story. A lot of amateur mistakes in the film are forgiven if the story is great. Research and planning are necessary, but the main point is to tell your story!